NASCAR mandated that all tracks put the SAFER (steel-and-foam energy reduction) Barriers in the corners about 10 years ago, one of the many safety initiatives following the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500. Tracks have added more SAFER Barriers after accidents in other areas of the track but have not been as proactive as Harvick thinks they should.

“It’s a little bit frustrating because it really shouldn’t even be a debate,” Harvick said. “I know they have data that shows where the most frequently hit spots are.

“But we wear all this safety equipment and do all the things that we do to these racetracks for that one freak incident to keep things from happening like happened back in 2001. It shouldn’t even be a debate. It’s just one of those things, I guess they’re just waiting for something else to happen and then they’ll fix it.”

NASCAR Chairman Brian France and track operators have said that they always look at areas where additional SAFER Barriers would be necessary. They covered the turns at all tracks first because of the costs and limited materials.

Daytona is currently doing a $400 million grandstand renovation. Harvick noted on Twitter and in talking to the media Friday that Daytona's renovations are much more expensive than the $500-a-foot SAFER Barrier. Did the tracks notice?

“The tracks, for the most part, don’t listen to anything unless it’s profitable for their shareholders,” Harvick said. “When you see somebody spending 400 million dollars and they don’t have soft walls around the inside, maybe they can spend 403 million to finish the inside of the superspeedway there at Daytona.”

Daytona issued a statement Friday in response to Harvick's comments.

"Fan and competitor safety is a top priority at Daytona International Speedway," Senior Director of Public Relations Lenny Santiago said in a statement. "We work closely with NASCAR, the Motorsports Technology Group, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and its Midwest Roadside Safety Facility division on recommendations for placement of the SAFER Barriers. We continuously review incidents that take place with these experts, and make improvements based on their ongoing recommendations."

Harvick apparently hit fluid on the track, causing him to wreck his car on the final lap.

“The thing went straight (in the turn) with the front end, I tried to pull it off the 18 (of Kyle Busch) and the car spun out,” Harvick said. “It never hinted of being tight for 499 miles. It was definitely unexpected.”

The car then skidded through the trioval grass before slamming into the concrete wall. That wall doesn’t absorb as much energy as a SAFER Barrier, which has a steel front with foam between the steel and the concrete to dissipate energy away from the car and driver.

“I was sore all week and just today feel good enough to do what I need to do,” Harvick said. “It was just a weird situation.

“The car didn’t have any brakes or any steering and the throttle was partially hung coming off the wall and going through the wet grass and going into no SAFER barrier at the end of pit wall. It was a hard shot.”